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Preparing for Chinese New Year |
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As Chinese New Year approaches, families all around are busy preparing for
the festivities. Some steam glutinous rice cakes, some steam buns, some
preserve salted meat and fish, and some make sausages... My family is no
exception. At night, Grandma brought a bowl of sliced pork, and we took out
a meat grinder to grind the meat. We then soaked the casings in yellow wine,
which we were told would soften them, making it easier to stuff the sausages
later.
With all the preparation done, everyone took their places. My task was the
"great engineering feat" of operating the meat grinder. I had complete
control over the speed at which the meat was ground. As Grandma continuously
fed the pork into the grinder, I hummed a tune and moved the grinder's
handle at a steady pace. Meanwhile, Grandpa carefully arranged the meat that
had just been stuffed into the casings.
Things went smoothly at first, but problems arose later on. Just as we
started stuffing the casings, one of them burst, exposing the bright red
meat inside. Grandpa had to play the role of "patcher-upper." It was a
relief when we finally managed to make one sausage without any issues, but
then the same thing happened again and again. I couldn't believe how
difficult it was to make sausages! In no time, I was exhausted. I wondered
why my mom could make sausages so effortlessly, while we were struggling so
much.
Mom finished her other tasks and came to see us. "What happened? You've only
made five sausages?" she asked in surprise. I complained, "The casings are
misbehaving." "Let me have a look." As it turned out, the casings we soaked
in yellow wine were not softening at all. In fact, they were getting harder,
which made them more prone to tearing. "Soak them in warm water instead,"
Mom advised. I quickly fetched a bowl of warm water and put the casings in.
After a short while, I picked out a casing and started stuffing again. This
time, things went much more smoothly. The casing was much more cooperative,
and in no time, we had made several sausages. |
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